UK company acquisitions

How deals are found

• Which companies: UK companies that changed hands, with 5 or more staff (their own or their subsidiaries') or £1m or more turnover. Dormant companies are left out, and so are new holding companies put above the same owners and moves within a group, where control did not change hands.
• The date is when the new owner took control, as notified on the register of people with significant control, or the closest date the filings allow. "Public" is when the change first appeared at Companies House, which is the order the list follows.
• No individual is named. When the sellers were people, they are described as the previous owners.

Trade sale

An established company bought control.

PE buyout

A newly formed company with private equity behind it (a fund, a buyout vehicle, or acquisition finance from a security agent) bought control.

Group sale

A company owned by one group moved to a different, unrelated group: a carve-out or a secondary sale.

Management buyout

Directors who were not the owners bought control through a new company.

Employee ownership

The owners sold control to an employee ownership trust.

New private owners

Individuals new to the company bought control through a new company (often a management buy-in).

New owner company

A newly formed company bought control; who stands behind it is not on the register yet.